


Copper On Bronze

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: A Treatise, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Female Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan wasn't ruined by Qui-Gon, Qui-Gon Jinn Lives, Relies on Legends/EU material, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Alpha-17 had never made much of an effort to keep his disdain for the Jedi to himself. From the original batch trained by Fett himself, it was little wonder he rolled his eyes at them. That's why, when Rex and Cody were informed that Alpha-17 and a Jedi Shadow (whatever that meant) were going to be joining them on this campaign, they were more than a little surprised.
Relationships: Alpha-17/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 51
Kudos: 416





	Copper On Bronze

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eff_Dragonkiller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eff_Dragonkiller/gifts).



> Shoutout to Eff_Dragonkiller for being awesome and a major source of inspiration for this fic! I hope you enjoy it, my dear!
> 
> I also haven't shown thicc thicc boi Alpha-17 any love since I found out about him, so, two birds with one stone, really.

The 501st and 212th were together more than most battalions, likely because their Generals were Master and Padawan at one point, but they weren't together all the time. That made missions like this, where they actually had some downtime to mingle amongst each other a very rare treat. That's what Rex and Cody were making plans to do as they waited for enough time to pass for the scheduled launch to commence. The last thing they were expecting was for Alpha-17 to walk up to them, trailed by a woman in modified clone armour with her long copper hair floating on the breeze the docks always seemed to have. 

"Cody, Rex." Alpha greeted gruffly. Both brothers snapped to a salute. 

"Alpha-17." They replied. 

"At ease. We're not here for you. Where are Skywalker and Jinn?"

"Command bridge, I believe, sir." Rex answered. "May I ask why?"

"We've been assigned to assist you on this mission." Chirped the woman behind Alpha, who leaned around his substantial bulk to smile warmly at them. 

"You've been assigned to this mission, sir?" Cody asked. 

"Yes, but we won't be in the main assault with you. Our priority is different."

"Understood, sir." Cody knew Alpha-speak for _I'm not explaining myself to a cadet_. 

"Come now, Alpha." The woman tossed an arm over his shoulder, leaning on him. "Let's be friendly. So rarely are we around other brothers, let alone two battalions' worth. I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi. Your names?"

"I'm Rex, Captain of Torrent Company of the 501st." Rex replied, drill-perfect. 

"Cody, Field Marshall and Commander of the 212th and Ghost Company."

"Impressive." Kenobi grinned. "Alpha speaks very highly of you, though he would never admit it."

"Neither is he deaf." Alpha grumbled. 

"Indeed not, and for that I'm grateful." Kenobi bumped her hip against his, standing straight again. "Pulled my ass out the fire more than I'd like, that's for certain. Regardless, daylight burns and we've preparations to make. Don't be a stranger, _vode_."

Kenobi hopped off, her hair swishing around her upper thigh as she walked. Alpha-17 didn't have much to say to that, just shook his head and followed her. 

"Since when does Alpha-17 work with Jedi?" Rex asked over private comm. 

"Not that I've ever known." Cody replied. "Last I heard, he was training on Kamino."

"Something must have happened." 

"Must have." Cody glanced over his shoulder, finding Kenobi playfully pushing Alpha-17, despite the fact he didn't move. "There's no bastard tougher than Alpha-17, so she must have done something spectacular, stupid or otherwise."

"I'm a little scared to find out which." 

"So am I. Doesn't look like we have much choice, though."

| | | 

The command briefing happened immediately after takeoff. There would normally also be another one just before entering the system, but they were mostly to refresh the plan rather than make one, since exiting hyperspace could enter directly into a battle with no time to prepare. Neither Cody or Rex were looking forward to having to attend this meeting, more than a little jittery over Alpha-17's reaction to the two unconventional Jedi that were named the Generals of these battalions. Cody, in particular, was not looking forward to having to face Alpha-17's disappointment over how Cody had to singlehandedly hold the battalion together. He already had to handle enough of the Jedi Council's calls where they complained about Jinn. 

Alpha-17 and Kenobi were the last to arrive, though they weren't late. 

Jinn stiffened as soon as they entered the room, and it didn't take a Jedi to recognize the emotions flickering across his face as _guilt_ mingling with _nerves_. "Obi-Wan."

"Master Jinn." She greeted, a cool cordial tone to her voice so very different than when she greeted the Commander and Captain on the dock, and they had been strangers. 

"When they told me they were sending a Shadow, I assumed it was Vos."

Alpha-17 stepped closer to the table, half-shielding Kenobi. "You plan on making this a problem?"

Jinn flinched back. "No, not at all."

Alpha-17 stepped back, and neither Cody or Rex missed the soft little smile Kenobi had for him, the way the back of her hand brushed down the back of his wrist and hand. Kenobi spoke up over the deafening silence. "Fantastic. You're Skywalker, correct? And the Padawan here is Tano?"

"Uh, yeah, that's me." Skywalker said, gaze flickering between his Master and the Shadow. "And yeah, this is my Padawan, Ahsoka Tano."

"Pleased to meet you." Tano said, pushing down her nervousness. "I've never met a Shadow before."

Kenobi laughed. "Then I'm doing my job correctly. Depending on how well this goes, perhaps we'll be seeing more of each other, young one."

"Anakin, the map, please." Jinn said softly. 

Skywalker gestured R2-D2 to the table, and the astromech brought up a layout of the mission topography, alongside all the waypoints and objective markers. 

"Wait, is this the right map?" Tano leaned forward, pointing to two markers behind enemy lines, deep in the droid factories. "These weren't there the last time I looked at this."

"Those are ours, young one." Kenobi replied. "Alpha-17 and I will be handling the factories while the 501st and the 212th take back the main city and provide a distraction."

"How are _two_ of you supposed to destroy _four_ factories?"

"You and Padawan Offee destroyed one by yourselves, correct?" Kenobi cocked her head. 

"Uh- Well, yeah, but-"

"Trust me," She reached over to lay a hand on Tano's shoulder, "Alpha-17 and I are the best there are."

Tano pulled back, obviously not quite buying it. Cody and Rex wisely said nothing, because they'd _seen_ Alpha-17 in action, and if he respected Kenobi, then the odds were she was the only equal he'd found amongst the Jedi. 

"The rest of us will be taking the city from the east side. It's steeper terrain, but its harder to defend on their end because the natives let the walls decay on that side. Any fire will weaken or break the wall entirely, but we need to approach more carefully-"

Cody zoned out - he'd memorized the plan three days ago - and instead focused on his General, who still hadn't relaxed. He was pretending to look at the map, but his real attention was pinned on Kenobi. He would almost think it was attraction; Kenobi looked incredibly fetching in clone armour, especially with the flexcore removed and the blacks clinging to a rock-solid abdomen. She Was also extremely beautiful, with stunning blue eyes, full lips, high cheekbones, clear skin and a mess of copper waves that listed to the right. But there was that flicker of _guiltregretnerves_ that had passed over his face earlier that made the Commander think there was some other past between them, one platonic but perhaps not pleasant. Alpha-17 seemed to know, if the way he immediately got defensive had anything to say about it. 

As soon as the briefing finished, Kenobi and Alpha-17 saw themselves out. 

"Dismissed, I suppose." Jinn muttered. 

"With all due respect, sir," Cody prefaced, "but _can_ you issue them orders?"

Jinn sighed. "No, I can't."

"Oh boy." Rex muttered over private comm. "This is going to be _spectacular_."

Skywalker glanced at his Master, but seemed to decide against saying anything. It clicked for Tano a second later, though.

"Wait, I do know her! She was your second Padawan, the one that left the Order." Skywalker looked distinctly uncomfortable and Jinn remained stubbornly silent. Tano huffed. "Fine. If you won't talk about it, I'm sure she'd be happy to."

"Snips, wait-"

The Padawan was out the door without a backwards glance, and both Cody and Rex decided to make their own break for it, leaving the two Masters to stew in their own knowledge on the bridge. 

| | | 

When they find the pair again, they're in the training rooms, and Kenobi was kicking Boomer's ass. She moved like liquid, even more so than the Twi'leks with their extra vertebrae, and she hit like a runaway tank. 

"Pull your punches more, you're going to crack his armour." Alpha-17 called, and Kenobi adjusted her hits accordingly, moving instead to flip over and trap the poor _vod_ 's head between her thighs, bringing him to the ground with a harsh twist sideways. Wooley winced at the sound Boomer made as he connected with the ground. 

"What are you made of, beskar?" Boomer wheezed. 

"I warned you." Alpha-17 replied, but she just grinned. 

"I'm Stewjoni. The planet is highly dense, with a strong gravitational field and made almost entirely of mountains and valleys. My people are made compact, but strong."

"How much does gravity actually affect your development?" Echo asked, curious. 

"Significantly. For instance, species who developed in lesser gravity, like the Kaminoans, would be unable to even stand on Stewjon's soil. And that would just be the weight of the air on them." She paused in consideration. "Come to think of it, most species I know would probably die, actually."

"Including us?" Fives asked. 

"Especially us." Helix replied. 

"We rarely leave the planet because its so secure - nothing can harm us there because nothing else can survive. Most machines don't work planetside either." She mused. 

"What else is different about you? Aside from having muscles of corded durasteel?" Tano asked, sitting on top of a crate next to Boil and Waxer.

"Hmm." She folded one arm across her chest, the other rising to press her index finger to her lips. "In unfiltered sunlight, I sparkle slightly. All of my hair has metallic composition, though it will mould into wounds."

"Mould into wounds?" Tano's face scrunched up. "How does that even work?"

"Very easily." She replied, pulling down the collar of her blacks to reveal what looked like a copper choker, two thick bands separated by a lattice design. "This is the remains of a wound from an electroshock collar bomb. I got it on Bandomeer. In an attempt to help the Jedi-"

"Bastard." Alpha-17 corrected with venom. 

"-that was there with me defeat the slavers, I let them shock me until the elements melted my skin. Once the collar was off, I merely cut off some of my hair and pressed it into the wound. The strands melt when applied with the tips of the fingers, and it sealed the wound shut. Of course, that comes with the caveat that I have the copper marks forever, whereas if it healed naturally, I may not even scar."

Alpha-17's silence was deadly, and the brothers that were around him shifted away. "How about you tell them how old you were on Bandomeer?"

Tano sat forward, pleading with her eyes. Cody and Rex knew that if Alpha-17 was pressing her like this, this was an old fight between them, and one he wasn't intent on ever giving up until he won. 

Kenobi sighed. "It doesn't matter how old I was. What matters is that we were successful, and this is a good example of what the sealing looks like." She winked at the brothers. "If any of you are ever lucky enough to see Alpha in the showers, don't be surprised to see my copper all over him. And make sure to ask him what kind of explosive was responsible for that massive flower on his chest."

"Sir?" Ringo asked. 

"No." Alpha-17 said flatly. "You never said how old you were."

"Alpha, please-"

"If you're so sure that it wasn't _wrong_ , then you shouldn't feel shame at acknowledging it." Alpha-17 stared her down, even behind his helmet. "Go ahead. Tell them. See what kind of reaction they give you, see if I'm exaggerating."

"What's passed is passed, Alpha. That's all there is to it."

"That fuck is still breathing - it's an ongoing problem." Alpha-17 snapped. " _Tell them_."

Tano hopped down off the crate. "Obi-Wan . . . The slave revolution on Bandomeer was over twenty years ago. How old _were_ you?"

Kenobi's adjusted her bracer. "Eleven."

The horrified silence was only broken by Alpha-17, who crossed his arms. "A cadet would be _three_."

"I know!" Kenobi finally snapped back. "I understand! I _lived it_ , Alpha, I don't need you to point it out to me."

"Then admit he was _wrong_." The clone retorted, standing his ground. "Actually admit that every moment you spent with him was _poison_."

"I can't change what happened." She said lowly, _dangerous_. "What is, is. If I let this fester inside of me, if I let myself resent him, the Order that let it happen and the galaxy that didn't care, I'll burn from the inside out. You can hate for me all you want, but the Light is where I _want to be_. I won't let him take that from me too."

After a long beat of terrified silence, Alpha-17 dropped his arms. "Good."

Kenobi, however, was not so easily appeased. "I hope it was my ire you were looking for, because it's what you've found."

"I can handle you being pissed off with me. What I can't fucking stand is you being hurt."

Oh. Alpha-17 had something _much_ deeper with Kenobi than Cody had initially estimated, because Alpha-17 didn't do _feelings_. But if it was true, that she'd not even been a _cadet_ when she was enslaved and collared, then what the hell else had she been through in the years since? Alpha-17 must have some insight into it, especially if he was willing to let her mark him with her own colours like she evidently had. It was just as likely if he let her mark him, that he would want to do the same in return, if only to mark her as off-limits to the other Alphas. Cody turned his attention to her armour (and wasn't that strange, that she wore clone armour instead of the Jedi issue) and scanned over her critically looking for-

No, it was there. Right along her side, the seams where the nanoprene of the blacks joined at the hem, was the strip that separated Command blacks from Trooper blacks. Troopers had flat black seams everywhere, whereas Command troops had flat white seams. CCs were slightly broader than their other brothers, but there weren't enough of them to make special blacks, so they got their issued blacks broadened with the white strips. The Alpha squad, Cody knew, had been too big for the issued blacks at all, some error in the Kaminoans' calculations about their prospective growth. Unlike the CCs to come, Jango had insisted that these brothers take the chance to stake out their individuality. Many of them had chosen to start with painting and accessorizing their armour, altering the blacks as an afterthought to match. Fordo was notorious for the fact he had six sets of blacks and not one of them matched his armour paint. Alpha-17 was much more coordinated, dying thin blue lines into the white nanoprene alteration strips. Colt had told him it took Alpha-17 two weeks to do it to all four sets of his blacks, the parts that would be hidden by armour having Mando'a prayers or sayings written on. Even the CCs couldn't fit Alpha squad's blacks, the Alphas thicker in every sense of the word. 

And Kenobi was wearing a set with those selfsame blue lines, self-evidently much more slender than Alpha-17.

 _Oh, Alpha._ He though to himself, watching as Kenobi sighed, shook herself out, and asked if there was another brother who wanted to spar with her. Kano stepped up, taking a fighting stance pretty close to the ARC one. _What have you done to yourself?_

Kenobi's tactics switched to speed rather than force, but she was still slippery as all hell, managing to completely slither out of a chokehold. It probably had something to do with the lowered gravity, that her joints weren't held down like they would otherwise be on Stewjon. Kano adjusted accordingly, sliding into the defensive to force her to attack him. HIs odds of getting her pinned were better if he could learn to predict her. 

"Immobilize her legs." Alpha-17 instructed, and what Alpha-17 said to do, _you did_. 

Kano managed to catch one of her kicks under his arm, despite the fact it winded him, and wrenched her off her feet, sending her to the ground. She landed hard, right on her shoulders, but swung up with her other leg to hitch over his shoulder. She got her hands behind her head, pushed up and slid upwards, managing to get enough of her free leg around his neck to hook onto her other ankle and _squeeze_. Kano, far from a quitter, hooked his fingers into the hip straps of her codpiece, hefting her up by it, then using all of his weight to slam her into the ground. It forced her free leg up to her chest and gave Kano enough space to catch her by the back of her knee and keep the leg pinned. The maneuver did mean he had to let go of her other leg, which she planted on the ground and used to flip them over, forcing her pelvis into his stomach and pushing the air from his lungs. He faltered, and she used the pause to pull her held leg back, trapping his arm and bringing the other knee up to rest on his collarbone. In actual combat, she would have slammed her knee into his throat and shattered his trachea, but this was no deathmatch. 

Boomer huffed. "You should have been an ARC, Kano."

Kano grunted as Kenobi helped him up. "Tell that to my loss."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." She assured. "Not only am I incredibly strong, I'm also hyperflexible. Besides, even if we account for our differing growth rates, I have years of combat experience on you."

None of the clones said anything, just in case that was a landmine like her hair had been. Even Tano seemed more reserved, glancing at the brothers around her, trying to pick up their cues on what she should do. 

"Feel up to a spar, Padawan?" Kenobi turned to Tano. 

"I have to get back to Anakin soon." Tano rolled her eyes. "I'd love to some other time, though."

She nodded. "Don't let me keep you, then."

Tano saw herself out and as Kenobi stretched, Cody intervened. "Back to work, brothers. I want every plane and tank prepped and immaculate."

There was a gentle grumble, but the assembled brothers dispersed. Rex followed them, likely to go make sure the work actually got done. They had a few days before they actually landed on Havrok, but it never hurt to have downtime before the landing, rather than a last-minute scramble. In the quiet shuffle, both Kenobi and Alpha-17 disappeared. 

Cody shook his head. _Never thought a day would come where someone could tame Alpha._

| | |

Obi-Wan's back hit the bulkhead _hard_ , but she didn't care. It never mattered - she could and had taken so much more punishment than this. She very likely would continue to. Nothing ever stopped in her life just because she was _hurt_ , just because she was _sad_. 

Alpha-17 bit down hard on the side of her neck. "You're still not right."

Her fingers curled into his hair, her legs wrapped nearly too-tightly around his waist. Sometimes, under the armour, she could feel his ribs creak when she squeezed. "There is no right or wrong, only what's passed."

He hissed against her throat, slamming a hand against the wall next to her head. "You might not give a shit about yourself, _but I do_."

She tipped his head back, catching his lips and gentling his fury. "Some words, when I must force you to attend to your wounds."

He snarled, grinding up against her despite the plastoid plates in the way. "I know what I'm capable of, the limits of my body."

"Am I'm not?"

"You know your body, but your mind? How often has that organ been left damaged and unattended?" He lifted her up and walked them over to the bed, dropping her gracelessly onto it. She bounced, but stayed put, watching him. 

"I haven't kept count." She replied blithely. 

"I take care of what's _mine_." He snapped, unbuckling himself with practiced efficiency. 

"And I count, do I?" She teased.

Pauldrons, chestplate, bracers and rerebracers on the floor, he leaned over her, the bulk of his frame blocking out the spartan light in the ceiling. "I've never had anything else bury itself in my skin like you."

She softened, reaching up to trace along the copper scars that littered the edges of his hairline. "Me neither."

"You chose to belong to me, and you have to accept what that means."

She breathed out, letting her hand fall away to stroke down the massive copper blossom under his left clavicle, taking up most of his upper pectoral. The incendiary round that hit him had left a hole she'd been terrified she'd not have enough hair to fill. It had taken nearly all of it as it was, and she'd had to walk around with it hanging just under his ear. If he had of been with anyone else, he would have died. His hand laid itself over hers, and he squeezed. His emotions, while tumultuous and agitated, rang true - there wasn't another living soul he would follow like he followed her, no one he would give his body (in every respect) to, offer his mind to or trust with his real feelings. He was covered in her, and she wasn't stupid, she knew what this mean to Mandalorians, and to clones in particular - those without any worldly possessions who wore their identities carved onto their skin and painted on their armour. 

His own hands slid down her waist, settling over the stripes on her blacks. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you."

"I know." She said. "But I don't let it go for his sake. I do it for myself. I refuse to live bathed in that darkness. I would rather we look at the copper in our skin and admire its beauty than remember why it was placed there in the first place."

He shook his head, but there was no changing her mind - it likely had something to do with her Jedi nonsense. "Don't blame me for not being so genteel."

"Oh, I don't. You can hate Qui-Gon for the both of us." She offered a crooked grin. "I wouldn't be sad if his nose got broken again."

"Promise?"

"Oh, _cyar'ika_ , absolutely." 

He made a wounded noise - he had mentioned more than once that her accent was Concord Dawn, _his_ Mando'a, and it drove him _crazy_ \- as his clever fingers found the latches of her chestplate. "I'm going to hold you to that."

She chuckled lowly, unlatching her own arm guards and using the toe of her boot to unhook her vambraces, much to his constant dismay. "I'm sure you will. Now how about we get down to business, soldier?"

| | | 

Whatever had happened in the training room yesterday between Alpha-17 and Kenobi seems to have resolved itself, Cody noted as he entered the mess hall. Kenobi was leaning casually back in her chair, her legs lazily tangled with his, and Alpha didn't seem all that bothered. The familiar mug of caf that Alpha always seemed to have off-duty was stationed in front of him, and Kenobi had a teacup in front of her, some light flowery aroma drifting from it. The other brothers' mild discomfort lent to the notion they hadn't been there long. There was an a valiant attempt by the shinies not to stare, despite their abject failure at it, but he couldn't blame them. Even if they managed to overcome their hero worship for anyone from Alpha Squad, the showing of Alpha-17's face would definitely have their attention. 

Across the bridge of his nose, in thin and dense clusters on his cheek, gashed along his chin, stretching into his hairline and cutting through his eyebrows was the shining copper of Kenobi's. It littered his face, reflecting as he shifted and spoke, and he was clearly unashamed of them. Cody knew what that kind of allowance meant to the clones, a sentiment even stronger amongst the Alphas, who carried a lot of Prime's Mando beliefs with them. Kenobi had claimed Alpha as much as he'd laid claim to her, and that was no small feat. He just hoped that whatever that tension had been in the briefing with General Jinn and again in the training room wouldn't lead to anything major. 


End file.
